The bright and shining brilliance of the Crystal Empire twinkled in Rarity’s eyes as they walked through the glowing city. The buildings, ponies, and even the streetways reflected the beauty of the sun into a masterpiece of dazzling art that surrounded them.
“Oh, Spike! Just look at how magnificent this kingdom still looks after all these years. It’s like no one lives here at all! It’s so beautiful… and marvelous. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Under the immense weight of all of Rarity’s personal belongings, Spike was tiring quickly, and the only view he could enjoy was that of Rarity’s purple makeup bag which was pressed to his face. He had never had a problem carrying all of Rarity’s bags or doing various little odd jobs for her, especially now that they had become an item since Spike was of age. The dress designer had always had a soft spot for Spike, and over the years she grew quite fond of him.
“Well, Rarity, I’m sure it looks lovely,” he responded with a shaky voice. “I’m just a little, oomph... tied up at the moment!”
The two made their way through the city, Rarity gazing in awe at the gorgeous sites and Spike struggling along under the weight of an absurd amount of clothes and travel supplies. However, they eventually found themselves at their destination, the Crystal Palace.
“Rarity, did Shining give you a reason why he wanted us to come for the weekend?” Spike asked, setting the cumbersome bags down at the castle gate entrance.
“Darling, he simply wished that we would come down and enjoy the weekend with he and Cadence,” Rarity replied. “If you ask me, we’re due for a nice vacation anyhow.”
Spike couldn’t argue with that. Between supporting her efforts at the boutique and working at the library, he had been busy non-stop. Besides, everypony knew that Rarity needed some time off. Not to mention that he hadn’t seen Shining or Cadence in quite some time.
The doors to the Crystal Palace flung open and fifteen crystal servants trotted down the steps to greet the Empire’s two guests.
“Welcome, welcome, Ms. Rarity, and Mr. Spike! We have been eagerly awaiting your arrival all day! I do hope you both had a pleasant trip here,” said one of the ponies.
“Well, actually it was pretty ni–”
“Wonderful! Now then, let’s get you inside where everything has been set up for your absolute comfort! Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence are waiting for you in the throne room,” said the same pony as before. While he was talking, Spike didn’t even notice that the other crystal servants had grabbed the bags and fled up the stairs with them.
“Wow, Rarity! Seems like Shining Armor and Cadence went all out this time to make our trip really special.”
“Why, yes… for our trip…” she whispered.
As Spike and Rarity entered the Palace, they were completely taken aback by how much it had changed. A few years of love and peace had really made the whole Empire shine more brightly than ever. They eventually made their way to the throne room after some searching. Along the way they spotted many crystal picture frames holding portraits of various important ponies.
“Look, Rarity—it’s Flash Sentry! He looks pretty bored in that painting, though,” Spike laughed at the new captain’s dull expression. He maneuvered his arm so he could give Rarity a nudge, but he noticed she wasn’t beside him.
“Rarity?” he called out, turning his head and searching for his marefriend. He walked a bit down the corridor and found her down a hallway. “Hey! There you are, Rarity. What’re you doing here?” Spike ran up to Rarity and noticed her eyes locked on a painting. He saw that in the painting stood a beautiful Princess Cadence and a strong Prince Shining Armor.
“Wow, they look pretty awesome together. Don’t they?”
Rarity held her stare, barely even acknowledging Spike’s appearance. Spike wasn’t too sure, but it seemed to him that she was looking at Cadence.
“Yes, they look perfect,” she answered plainly.
Spike turned to Rarity and gently laid a claw on her shoulder. “You okay, Rares?”
“Yes, I’m wonderful! Anyhow, let’s go meet with our hosts now, shall we?” Without a second thought, she trotted off toward the throne room, leaving Spike in her wake. He raised an eyebrow for a moment before shrugging.
As the two made their way through the winding corridors, Rarity’s smile widened and her pace quickened. As they passed through the massive double doors into the throne room, they were hit with the sound of loud fanfare. The sound of trumpets echoed throughout the room, bringing the prince and princess’ attention to their guests.
“The Crystal Empire welcomes Rarity and Spike!” announced the captain of the guard, Flash Sentry. Cadence and Shining Armor rose from their thrones and trotted down the steps.
“I’m so happy that you two could make it!” Cadence said, looking at the guests.
“Yes, it’s been far too long!” Rarity replied, gently bowing her head to the royal couple.
“And you, Spike? How are holding up these days?” Shining asked, smiling at Spike..
“I’ve been great! Things have been crazy busy for the two of us, so it’s nice to be able to get out for awhile.” Spike smiled up at his beautiful marefriend.
“Why, yes. It was positiviely wonderful of you to invite us,” Rarity said. “There was no way we could say no something like that.”
Cadence gave them a sweet smile. “Well, we’re thrilled to have you.”
Shining turned his gaze to Spike and Rarity with a smile. “Anyway, you two must be tired from your trip. Our staff have taken the liberty of moving your items to your room.” Shining switched his attention to a nearby attendant. “If you could, please show our guests to their room.”
“Yes, sir!” the pony responded.
“Get some rest, you two,” Cadence called out as they left. “Dinner is served in the dining hall at seven o’clock if you want to join us!”
“We’ll be there!” Spike said, smiling in response.
With the young couple’s bags unpacked, and bellies empty, they decided to head down to the dining hall just a little bit early.
“I wonder what kind of food they have tonight! What do you think, Rarity?” Spike asked his lover.
“Oh, I’m not all too worried about the food…” she replied, magically adjusting the sapphire necklace she was wearing.
“Yeah, they’re rich so I’d imagine that it’ll be top of the line stuff,” Spike said with a wink.
Rarity merely nodded her head and gazed into the distance. “Hmm, yes.”
Spike shot her a curious gaze. “Are you okay, love?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Rarity questioned, snapping to attention.
“Well, you’ve seemed kind of… out of it today.”
“Don’t worry, dear, I’m just tired. It was a long trip out here.” Rarity leaned over and gently nuzzled Spike’s cheek. “Nothing to worry about, Spikey.”
“Well, if you say so. You can’t really blame me for worrying about my girl, though.” Spike gave her an affectionate hug, and they continued toward the dining room.
When they arrived, the pristine table was already set with an exquisite looking meal, half-full wine glasses, and a scrumptious looking velveteen cake as the dessert. Shining Armor and Cadence had already been seated, Shining sitting on the end with Cadence to his right.
“There they are,” Shining said, pointing a hoof in their direction. “Have a seat!”
Rarity immediately took the seat adjacent to Cadence, on Shining’s left side, followed closely by Spike, who sat next to his marefriend.
“Spike, we actually had a spot reserved for you on the other side of the table by Cadence.” Shining pointed to the plate of food set out at the seat next to the pink princess.
“Yeah, it’s not every day I get to visit with one of my oldest friends,” Cadence said, smiling all the while.
“Umm, okay.” Spike nodded and made his way to the other side of the table, taking his seat.
Their meal consisted of a small salad for starters, a beet and cucumber pasta dish with fresh spring water for the main course, and sparkling red wine with velvet cake for dessert.
Despite not having gems, the food was very delicious. The cucumber pasta was heavenly, and the cake was more rich and moist. Every last portion was pristine and delicious.
After the four had finished their meals, they exchanged various conversation topics, such as how business at the Carousel Boutique had been, the status of the Crystal Empire, the latest crisis caused by Twilight’s quest for magical knowledge and other interesting topics. Their conversations slowly died down as a very shiny crystal pony came into the dining hall and approached Shining Armor. This pony whispered something briefly into Shining’s ear before turning and fleeing the room as quickly as he entered.
“Well, Rarity, Spike. It’s time,” Shining announced to his guests. Spike and Rarity glanced at each other, their looks of confusion matched.
“Time for what, Shining Armor?” Rarity asked the prince.
The crystal prince and princess rose from their chairs and smiled. As they trotted towards the open door leading out into the hallway Cadence turned and winked at Spike.
“It’s time for the Saphirum.”
Shining Armor and Cadence led the way down their dazzling castle, with the Ponyville couple only a few steps behind. There was an unusual tension between the royal couple, one that Spike had felt all night.
“Hey, Rarity… have you noticed anything… odd about Shining and Cadence?” Spike whispered to his marefriend. Rarity kept looking forward, but leaned her head towards Spike and answered him.
“Whatever do you mean, Spike? They seem just as happy and in love as when we first met them!”
The dragon looked closely at the ponies leading their way, and saw nothing “lovely” about their interaction.
Honestly, there wasn’t even any interaction in the first place. Shining Armor and Cadence stood a few feet apart and paid absolutely no attention to one another. Spike could practically feel the awkward tension between the two. Neither pony had argued, or even disagreed at any point during dinner. Only now it seemed like they were only tolerating each other’s company on the way to this “Saphirum”.
“Rarity, I’m serious. There’s something going on between them… Something not good,” Spike insisted, his face scrunching up.
“Spike, whatever is going on between the prince and princess is none of our business. I think whatever you’re feeling might be because of something you ate at dinner,” she replied, much to Spike’s dismay. She turned her head and glanced at her lover’s face. Seeing the distant look and deep frown on his face made her lighten up.
“Listen, Spikey, there’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just do what we came here to do—relax and have a good time,” she said, kissing his cheek softly.
At the touch of her lips, Spike calmed down. His stomach fluttered a bit and he smiled. “Alright, love… you’re probably right.”
Shining Armor and Cadence approached a door embroidered with an image of Cadence’s cutie mark, a crystal heart with golden branches underneath. They raised their hooves and gently tapped them together. At their contact, the cutie mark on the door lit up a dazzling azure blue and slowly swung open.
“This is the Saphirum, a room we found not long after we started our rule. We noticed something extraordinary happens every night when the crystal ponies give thanks over the empire, or when they all show an extreme amount of love or excitement. Please, enter,” Cadence said with a smile. Shining Armor entered the room first, followed by his wife. Rarity and Spike went inside next.
“Whoa…” Spike said, his voice full of awe. Rarity had a hoof up at her mouth and she let out a gasp.
“This is beautiful,” she said to Shining, who smiled at her reaction.
The room was made entirely of crystal. Not just diamonds or rubies, but every single type of crystal you could possibly imagine. Jade, emerald, sapphire, lapis lazuli, onyx… any gem imaginable was a part of the room. Spike’s stomach growled, his eyes wide.
“They look delicious…” he whispered to himself. Cadence trotted up next to the dragon and tapped her hoof against his head.
“Hey, Spike! These gems are not for eating. They instead have another amazing purpose.”
Shining Armor stepped forward and explained the amazing phenomena that was the Saphirum. “When Cadence and I first took leadership of the Crystal Empire, we knew that we had much to learn about its history and culture. As time went on, we completely learned and honored the ways of the empire, but we couldn’t help but realize there was one thing we had yet to do. Explore our own castle.”
Cadence took her place next to her husband and continued the explanation. “As we explored the massive castle a bit deeper, we discovered this room. Seeing as how it’s in the back of the abandoned, left wing corridor, it made sense we hadn’t seen it before. At first we were confused at seeing my cutie mark on the door… but it seemed that the castle recognized our love and the door opened by itself. It’s like some form of magic resides within it. That’s when we discovered this,” she spun in place, waving a hoof at the marvel of the room.
Shining now stood in the middle of the room. The floor beneath him was decorated with a beautiful crystal star that twinkled and shined no matter the angle you looked at it.
“But the design of the room isn’t what makes it so special. When the crystal heart is powered by the magical energy that emanates from true love, it fires off a beautiful rainbow light into the sky. Everypony that sees it has their heart warmed almost immediately. The beam flows right through this room and well… I think you’ll have to see it for yourself to believe me,” the prince finished.
Spike and Rarity wore huge smiles and quickened their pace to see just what Shining was talking about. Rarity ran up besides Shining and poked her hoof at his chest.
“Shining! You never showed me this at any other time I’ve visited!” she said with wide eyes.
The prince chuckled nervously. “Well… I never really thought to show you! We,” he said, gesturing to Cadence, “just figured this would be the perfect time to share!”
Spike’s claw ran along the many crystals that made up the wall, then looked around in wonder. “I think this is amazing! When will the crystal heart be powered enough to fire? I would love to see how this room shines!”
“Well, Spike, the heart is always ready. Just the tiniest hint of powerful or new love should fire it. And it has been charging for some time,” Cadence answered.
Shining Armor started to walk towards the door, and motioned for the others to follow. “Well, guys, as much as I’d like to wait for the heart to fire, it’s been a pretty long day. We’ll have to come check it out in the morning. I’m sure you two are tired from your trip anyway. Let’s get some sleep and we’ll start up again tomorrow.”
Cadence and Rarity followed Shining out the door, but Spike took a moment to admire the room one last time. Something bothered the dragon deep down. A bad feeling seemed to burn in his stomach. He knew for sure that it wasn’t the food he ate. Before he could investigate the room a bit, however, Rarity called for him to follow her to their room.
“Alright, I’m coming!” he yelled back, walking out of the room slowly. The door creaked to a close behind him. He turned and caught one last glimpse of a bright and shining fire ruby on the far side of the room.
“Power or new love should fire it. It has been charging for some time,” a booming voiced echoed from the wall around.
“That’s odd… ‘cause I…” Spike started to whisper aloud. He smiled and waved the thought off. “Nah! It’s probably my imagination.”
Spike ran back up to the group, looking forward to a good night’s rest.
“Wah!” Spike gasped. He rolled over a little too far and fell out of bed, waking from a deep sleep.
“Oh, great. That’s just perfect,” he said as he sat up and dusted himself off. “Don’t worry, Rares, I’m fine. Just fell out of bed. That’s all.”
He turned around to climb back into bed when he noticed Rarity didn’t respond.
“Rarity?” he whispered, reaching his claw out in the darkness for her. Feeling around her pillow, he found nopony. His heart fell into his stomach. Rarity never woke up from her sleep. Nopony slept as deeply as Rarity.
“Rarity? Hey, Rarity, where are you?” Spike shouted, turning on the crystal lamp on his nightstand and scanning the room for his marefriend. Panic started to take over Spike. He turned to run out of the room and stumbled over the balled-up blanket on the floor. Silently cursing himself as he untangled himself from the blanket, his mind played the worst possible scenarios that could have befallen his lover.
“Rarity, I’ve coming for you!” he yelled as he threw the doors open. As soon as he took a step out of the room, a powerful magical grip his body. The dragon could neither move nor speak. The thoughts of burglars or changelings flowed through his mind, certain that whatever held him down was about to end his life.
“Shush, Spike! It’s just me.” Cadence stepped out of the darkness with a hoof over her mouth. Her horn glowed its blue aura for a moment before extinguishing. Spike felt the grip on him loosen and he gasped for breath.
“Cadence! What… what are you doing?”
Cadence took a deep breath, trying to calm her own trembling hooves. “Sorry, Spike. You busted out of your room screaming bloody murder, and I didn’t want the whole castle to wake up. Are you okay? What are you yelling about?” Cadence asked.
Spike stood up and pointed at his bed.
“I woke up and found Rarity missing! I kinda got a little nervous. Rarity never wakes up once she’s asleep,” he explained. Cadence’s expression went from confused, to absolutely terrified in a short moment.
“Shining Armor is also missing. I… I don’t know what’s going on… but I bet I know where we can find them. Come on,” she said,turning and galloping down the hallway.
Spike ran beside her and spoke in between pants. “Where… are we… going?”
Cadence kept her focus forward, waiting a few moments to reply.
“The Saphirum.”
The bad feeling Spike felt earlier that night rushed back to him, pulling all of the air out of his lungs. “How come?”
“I can feel a disturbance in the Saphirum’s magical energy. I have a feeling about this.”
It couldn’t be… he thought to himself.
The pair ran down several hallways, making lefts and rights wherever necessary. After a good few minutes, Spike and Cadence slowed down as they approached the Saphirum’s hallway.
“Please… please let me be wrong. Please,” Cadence whispered.
She turned her head around the corner and nearly bursted into tears when she saw the door to the Saphirum open and Rarity and Shining Armor standing in the middle. She pulled her head back around the corner and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Spike turned the corner and grinned.
“Hey look! There they a—” Cadence grabbed him and pulled him back before he could finish.
“What are you doing, Cadence?” he asked, “They’re in the Saphirum. Let’s go talk to them!” When he finished speaking, Cadence’s face altered from a surprised gasp into a mess of tears.
“Cadence, what’s wrong?”
Tears rolled down Cadence’s face. She choked back a sob as she spoke. “Spike… the door to the Saphirum can’t be opened like any other door…” she started, rubbing the tears out of her eyes with a hoof. “It can only be opened by two ponies… that are…”
The castle softly rumbled.
“What was that?” Spike asked.
Cadence shook her head, totally disregarding Spike’s words. “It can’t be. I have to get closer and see if it’s true.”
She stood up, turning the corner and approaching the room, as Spike reluctantly followed, whispering to her as quietly as possible as they snuck down the hallway.
“What are we doing?”
Cadence continued to ignore him. The pair finally reached the room, hiding behind the open door, now within earshot of the two white unicorns.
“This truly is absolutely dazzling, Shining,” Rarity said.
“Not as dazzling as you,” he replied.
Cadence could practically feel her heart breaking. Spike’s jaw opened wide and his brain functions came to a full stop.
“Rarity… you wanted to see the room light up, right?” Shining Armor asked her, stepping a tiny bit closer.
“Yes…” she replied softly, closing the distance between them. With each step they took the castle responded back with a small shake.
“Then kiss me,” Shining said, leaning his head down a little towards hers. Rarity raised her head up and their lips made contact. Their tongues entertwined and bounced around each other’s mouths as they reveled in the deliciously forbidden taste the other had to offer.
The castle shook violently for a moment, and the walls started to hum. Every crystal in the room intensified in color. A blast of light shone up from the star where the two kissing ponies stood, hitting them directly. As it flowed through them they both turned crystal, fur and manes shining brightly. The crystals of the room began to glow brightly from within and shot light down into the star, changing its color from bright white to rainbow. With an incredible hum, the light blasted upward through the ceiling, shooting the rainbow light into the night sky. Through all of this, the unicorns never broke contact, their kiss long and uninterrupted.
Tears welled up in Spike’s eyes.
Cadence’s face twisted into a dark grimace born of pure anger unbridled hatred. “I will destroy her!”