Epilogue to Part One: Stealing Laughter
The hallway was a familiar one, but Topaz Glitter walked down it with trepidation, each hooffall echoing an uncomfortable amount of noise through the crystalline hallways of the Crystal Palace. She was jumpy. Really jumpy. Every time one of her hoofsteps echoed across the hallway, she flinched, forcibly restraining herself from glancing behind her to look for guards. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything wrong…
Okay, that was a lie. She knew that even though Princess Flurry hadn’t technically banished her from the palace, it was what the princess had meant. But she really desperately needed advice, and there was only one pony she felt like she could confess her deepest crimes to.
She really hoped that Escher was on duty. Her roommate hadn't been at home, but she also didn’t memorize his schedule. He could be out on a date, or bar hopping, or any number of places. She really hoped he wasn’t.
Nopony came to toss Topaz out of the palace as she made her way to the Empress’ Vault. She passed a few servants, but either they didn’t know of her recent altercation with the alicorn monarch, or they didn’t care to get involved. She’d been hoping that she could have gotten away with a little trip through the palace without being noticed, but that had clearly been a foolish hope. There were lots of bedrooms and guest rooms on the way to the Vault, after all.
She rounded the final turn that led to the Vault and breathed a silent sigh of relief. Escher was on duty. His red and black carapace stood out against the purple and blue crystal of the palace walls. When he saw her coming, his orange insect-like eyes narrowed dangerously. He glanced at his fellow guard, a crystal pony wearing the silver armor typical of the Palace Guard. The crystal pony shifted his stance and readied his spear, preparing to bar her way.
“Topaz…” Escher began with a resigned sigh, turning back to her. “What are you doing here?”
“You heard what she said, Escher!” Topaz said quickly, wishing she didn’t sound so panicked. “She never said I was banned from the castle!”
“Yes, yes, Princess Flurry Heart only banished you from her sight,” the changeling guard replied, rolling his eyes. “I was there, remember? But you know what she meant, Topaz. She would not be happy to find you here.”
“Good thing she’s not here then,” Topaz said cheerfully. “C’mon, Escher. You know I’m harmless. I need to go through. Escher, it’s important.”
“I can’t do it, Topaz. I have my orders.”
“You were ordered, specifically, to disallow me entry to the Vault?” Topaz asked. Escher hesitated. “Exactly. She probably forgot all about it after she banished me. In fact, I’m guessing the princess didn’t leave any standing orders about me at all, did she?”
“Only that we were supposed to toss you in a cell if you broke your banishment,” the crystal pony chimed in. Escher glared at him.
“Thanks, Tigerseye. I was really hoping to not have to throw my best friend and roommate in a cell tonight.”
“No, that’s perfect,” Topaz coaxed the two of them. “Since the technical wording of her banishment was that I couldn’t enter her sight, and she’s not here, I haven’t broken any rules. Please?” She tried to open her eyes as wide as she could, going full puppy-dog treatment on her closest and dearest friend. She could even see the exact moment he caved.
“It’s on your head, Topaz Glitter. And I’m going to clarify things with my commander so you can’t use this loophole again, hear? I won’t have you risking getting thrown in jail just because you can’t let go of your arguments with the princess.”
“Thank you thank you THANK YOU!” Topaz gushed, dashing forward to hug the changeling so quickly that his guard partner nearly leveled his spear towards her. Escher rolled his bug eyes and pushed her away so he could open the heavy stone door that led inside the Vault.
“Don’t be long. I’m not bailing you out of jail if you get yourself caught, okay? You can pay your own bail money, you silly filly.”
“You’re the best ‘ling ever!” Topaz sang as she slipped inside the room. Escher just shook his head.
“Knock when you want out, okay?” he said as he closed the door behind her.
Topaz looked ahead at the long, familiar hallway and immediately relaxed, feeling instantly at home. She loved this well-lit hallway, with its soft, inviting purple carpet and the glowing crystal torches on the wall. She trotted down the hallway, her gait lightening with every step.
The end of the hallway opened into a vast throne room. On the west end of the room was a shrine to the Prince of the Empire, the revered Shining Armor. Eternally burning candles surrounded a bronze bust of the stallion, his gaze both kind and stern. On the east end was a second shrine, complete with its own bust of the legendary Princess Twilight Sparkle, Prince Armor’s sister. Topaz ignored them as she approached the platform, where a single figure slumped on a raised platform, covered with beautiful satin pillows.
“Hey, great grandma,” Topaz said, giggling at her own joke. It was only an accurate title if you added about a hundred ‘greats’ to great grandma. The figure on the pillowed platform didn’t stir. She almost never did.
The Empress Mi Amore Cadenza was wraith-thin, with sunken cheeks and visible ribs. Large dark blotchy bags sat under each closed eye, showing a thousand years’ worth of exhaustion. Her forehooves were clutched around Ocellus’ Apparatus, the magical artifact that served as both a power source and a willing prison for the Empress. It allowed her to feed off the love of her willing subjects, while in turn feeding that power into the colossal shield that blocked the Crystal Empire off from the rest of the world.
As foals, everypony got to take turns coming before the powerful alicorn mare. It was one of the greatest privileges to serve the Empress, at that age. The walls around the shrines, and behind the platform, were covered, plastered in hoof drawn pictures made by the foals of the Empire, as well as the changeling nymphs, Diamond Dog puppies, and yak calves who came to meet the Empress and bathe her in their love and adoration. Everypony, and everyling and every pup and yak, loved the Empress for the sacrifice she made for them all.
Most foals grew out of the experience as they aged, however, and few of the adults visited except on rare occasions. Topaz Glitter was one of the few who bothered to keep visiting the Empress once they graduated from elementary school.
“I argued with your daughter again, Empress,” Topaz confessed as she knelt below the platform. The withered pink alicorn did not stir. “I think I went too far this time. I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself. She’s wrong. She’s wrong and she won’t see it.”
The Empress didn’t move or speak, and Topaz sighed. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a little rude to rehash the argument in front of you, but I have to vent.” Topaz rubbed at her eyes with her hooves. “She still won’t intervene. Things are getting worse for the poor ponies down south. We’ve been locked away for a thousand years, and we’ve been doing nothing. I just feel like we should be doing more. Like, I feel it in my cutie mark, if that makes sense.”
It didn’t, but since the Empress never spoke back, it didn’t matter. Some ponies said she didn’t hear when others spoke. Topaz knew differently. She knew that the Empress heard every word, because once, when she was a tiny foal, Empress Cadenza had spoken to her. Nopony believed her, but she knew. She would remember that moment till the day she died.
“It doesn’t really matter why we argued, I guess,” Topaz said. “In the end, Princess Flurry became so angry she banished me from her presence. I don’t blame her, not really. I crossed a line. I was rude, in front of her entire court. I called her a coward.” Topaz flinched. She still felt horrible about that. “It was a mistake. I’ll apologize the very next chance I get. I know what kind of burdens she carries. She looks so worn some days. I wish there was something more I could do.
“So this is probably the last time I’ll be coming to visit for a while,” Topaz confessed. “I don’t think the guards will let me back in so easily next time. Even Escher. You remember me telling you about him? He’s one of the guards outside your door. He’s a changeling, and he’s amazing. My very best friend and roommate.” She was getting off topic, she knew, but a nagging voice inside her head said that maybe she should just run. Leave. After what she was about to confess, maybe even Empress Cadenza would hate her.
“So after we argued, I was angry. Furious. I was madder than I’d ever been before, so I think I might have done something stupid. Colossally stupid. I mean, imagine the stupidest thing you could think of, and then quadruple that. It was because of something Princess Flurry said. Well, maybe not what she’d said, but something she hinted at. She told me I was a fool, and immature, and if I possessed the information she did, I wouldn’t believe the way I did. It struck me as so arrogant, so heavy-hoofed, that I was convinced in that moment she was hiding something from me. I don’t know why. So, uh, I broke into Shining Armor’s room.”
There was a twitch. The Empress’ ears perked towards her, and Topaz nearly panicked. Well, at least she had the Empress’ attention.
“I was going to break into her office! But uh, I’ve never been inside either room, so I got the two confused. When I got inside, there was a chest. On the dresser. The room hasn’t been touched in centuries, Empress. Maids go in to clean it, but nothing else. I nearly turned to flee when I realized I was in the wrong room. But the chest… called to me. Something inside was glowing. It was blue. I might have maybe walked over and opened the little chest.”
A second ear twitch. Topaz’ breath caught in her throat.
“I saw the letter inside. I didn’t read it!” Topaz insisted. “I did see who it was from, though. And who it was to. And then I saw what was glowing beneath it. A gem, a perfect, beautiful, blue gemstone shaped like a balloon. I… Empress, please forgive me. I touched it with my hoof. I couldn’t help myself.” She reached back to her saddlebags, extracting a small blue gem. Only this one wasn’t shaped like a balloon.
“As soon as I touched it, I saw a vision. I don’t know if it was real or not, Empress. I don’t know what to believe. But I think it was real.”
“I was on a pathway made of stars.” Topaz’s voice filled with wonder as she remembered the images from her vision, the sheer incalculable vastness that had surrounded her. “There was an earth pony there. Light pink, with a dark pink mane, and balloons for a cutie mark. She said her name was Pinkie Pie, and she was passing the gem on to me. She said she’d been watching me, that ‘I was gonna do a great job’, and to be sure to turn every frown upside down that I possibly could. She said I was worthy. When I woke up, the gem looked like this.” She held out the blue gem. It was now shaped like a half-sunburst, a mirror image of Topaz Glitter’s half-sunburst cutie mark.
“I’ll give it to you, if you want,” Topaz said, trying not to hyperventilate. “I didn’t quite understand what Pinkie was talking about, but I think she meant great things for me. I’m scared, Empress. I don’t know what all this means. You’re the only pony I can talk to. Please? I know you barely speak to anypony, but just this once if you could help me with this, I’ll be forever grateful.”
That got the biggest reaction of all. No mere ear twitch this time. Instead, to Topaz’ utter shock, the emaciated royal’s eyes slid open, her lips pulling back in the first smile she’d probably smiled in centuries. It was a radiant smile, full of joy and hope.
“My little pony,” whispered her raspy voice, hoarse from centuries of unuse. “Things are about to get very interesting for you.”