//------------------------------//
// An Enlightening Visit 
// Story: And With The Dawn Of True Peace 
// by Lord Drayvon22 
//------------------------------//

It’s a calm and sunny day when Princess Cadance and Shining Armour recieve an invitation to lunch in Equestria. Usurper or not, Void is royalty and it would be very rude to refuse such an invitation. Even so, the reason for the rsndom summons is a mystery. 

"Do you have any idea, dear?" Shining asks as he and Cadance slowly walk towards the main throne room of Canterlot Castle. 

Cadance shakes her head. "No, I don't. It wasn't even that long ago that we were trapped in that... prison." She shudders at the memory which Shining solves with a kiss. "Thanks." 

Shining gives her a smile. "You're welcome but I will admit, I'm on edge. There are only two possible reasons that Void would call us here. Brainwashing or-" He cuts himself off as he and his wife exchange a horrified look at the thought. It makes sense; a being like Nightmare Moon would want to eliminate any potential political rivals and replace them with its own allies.

Before they can ponder more, they come upon the throne room doors where the two Guards on either side bow to them. "Just a moment, your majesties." The Guard on the left goes inside to announce thier presence as the other shoots them a disarming smile. Before Cadance and Shining can speak, the first Guard exits the throne room with a grin. "The Queen will see you now." The royal couple exchange a look and take a deep breath before entering the throne room hoof in hoof.




Much to thier surprise, the throne room hasn't changed in terms of its aesthetic. They expected to find it completely different given many tyrants often try and remove any trace of thier predecessors.

"Greetings, my friends. It's nice to see you again." Cadance and Shining look up to find Queen Void sitting atop Princess Celestia's former throne with a smile that would look warm and welcoming on any other being. 

Even so, she is acting regent of Equestria so they maintain thier pleasantries. "Good afternoon, Queen Void. We hope you've been having a good day." 

The Queen chuckles before gesturing towards the dining room. "Shall we?" Shining and Cadance nod and follow Void.




Like the throne room, the dining room hasn't changed much besides even more seating. Cadance and Shining find thier chairs being magically pulled out for them by Void as she takes Princess Celestia's former seat at the head of the table. 

Taking notice of the two's worried glances at each other, Void smiles eerily. "Since you are clearly wondering why you're here, let's get down to business shall we?" Cadance and Shining hold hooves before nodding. "So, how far along are you in your plan to bring me down?" Cadance and Shining are visibly shocked by the question although they don't know what surprises them more. That Void already suspects them of planning to betray her or the fact that she said it in the same casual tone with which you'd ask about somepony's health. 

"We don't know what you're talking about, your highness." To her credit, Cadance keeps a nervous stutter out of her voice only for Void to erupt with laughter. 

"Do you think that I'm so arrogant that I think no-pony will ever attempt to dethrone me? I'm not a fool." 

Cadance and Shining Armour quiver slightly; they are sitting directly across from the powerful Queen of Equestria in her own palace with her Guards everywhere. Although both of them are formidable, they can't sustain a fight against a being with Nightmare Moon's power for long without the Elements or the Crystal Heart. 

Gathering his courage, Shining turns serious. "Why are we here, Void? We're right here so kidnap or kill us." 

The Queen sighs disappointedly. "Why must you assume that, just because I am half Nightmare Moon, I am an evil tyrant on par with Sombra, Tirek or Chrysalis?" 

The two royals glare at Void. "You corrupted Twilight and her friends, banished the Princesses, conquered Equestria and sealed us in crystal for several months." 

Void sighs. "I'm genuinely sorry that it came to that but I couldn't afford to be stopped from doing what needed to be done. However, what I have accomplished more than makes up for it. Go and ask any of my citizens and they'll tell you how I have only made things nicer for everypony by punishing the truly rotten and pouring more Bits into public services." 

Shining fixes her with a harsh glare. "Even if that were true, that does not justify what you did to Twily and her friends, your highness." 

He spits the last words with such venom that Cadance looks worriedly at the Queen who looks... sad. "I'll admit, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie truly didn't deserve it since thier only crime was ignorance. The others though?" Her face goes dark. "They deserved what came to them and much more" 

Cadance levels Void with a glare. "And we're just supposed to trust the being who conquered Equestria and corrupted an innocent filly?" 

Queen Void fixes them with a glare. "The Nightmare in and of itself is not evil. It simply goes to whoever needs it the most and bonds with them, one of which unfortunately happened to be Princess Luna when she allowed her dark emotions to take control. But nopony ever considered that did they? No, it was all the big shadowy pony spirit's fault that she was bonded to a hate-filled being." She growls in anger but softens when she sees the horrified royals. "Sorry."

Shining decides to get down to business. "What are you going to do with us then?" 

Void flashes them a cheeky grin. "Nothing." 

The rulers are taken aback. "Nothing?!" 

Void dismissively waves a hoof. "If I imprison or kill you then the Crystal Ponies and my subjects will rise up against me." 

Cadance decides to test her luck. "Why not just brainwash us into your puppets then?" 

Shining bristles at the idea but Void smiles widely at her fellow rulers. "And why would I do that? You don't deserve to be punished and you pose no threat to me whatsoever." 

Shining and Cadance stare at her with absolute disbelief. "No threat? We still have the Crystal Heart." 

The beaming smile from Void is enough to unnerve them though. "You misunderstand, Princess Cadance. The Crystal Heart only works against evil and neither myself nor Nightmare are evil. I simply do what is necessary to bring peace to Equestria and sometimes that takes more... extreme measures." 

Shining decides to play his full hoof. "But we could turn Equestria against you and you can't defend against the entire kingdom and the Crystal Empire at once." 

Void looks on proudly. "If you are able to turn my kingdom against me, I will willingly capitulate. You won't even need to fight me. I am here to help everypony, not become a tyrant. The changes that I've already made to Equestria will ensure a long and prosperous future regardless." 

Slumping in defeat, Princess Cadance and Shining Armour share a distressed look before the latter fixes Void with a look of absolute hatred. "We'll never forgive you for what you did to Twilight and her friends, Void." 

Queen Void sighs in exacerbation but, before they can speak again, she flashes them a smile. "You two haven't been here long, have you?" 

Cadance shakes her head. "We teleported straight into the foyer from our throne room when we were ready." 

Void shoots her a grin. "Tell you what, after lunch, I'll take you on a tour of Canterlot and show you what I've changed. so you can decide for yourself how evil I truly am." She watches as the royal couple exchange a look before slowly nodding. "Excellent." 

As she says this, the doors to the kitchen open and waiters bring out thier food. "I hope you don't mind but I went ahead and ordered for you. Twilight was kind enough to tell me both of your favourite dishes." Queen Void begins eating and, after checking to ensure that the food isn't enchanted or poisoned, her guests do the same.



An hour later, outside of Canterlot Castle


As promised, after letting thier food settle, Queen Void begins the tour. "Queen Void! Wait up!" They all turn to see Dread Rainbow Dash flying above them with a concerned look on her face. "Will you require my help, your highness?" Cadance and Shining Armour are slightly off-put by the distrustful look that the Dread gives them. 

Void chuckles. "I'll be fine, Dash. I'm only going into Canterlot to show our friends around and will be back later. Besides," she fixes her guests with a smirk, "they know better than to try and attack me without the Crystal Heart." The two shudder as Rainbow Dash salutes her Queen and rockets off to her room, doubtless to read the latest Daring Do.

As her companions process what just happened, Void chuckles fondly. "Let's get on with the tour." She leads them away as they follow, surprised at the Queen's rather foalish behaviour.




The first place they go to is the sculpture garden which is largely unchanged aside from a new stone carving of Void near the center. Unlike what they would have expected though, it isn't any larger or more prominent than any of the surrounding statues or sculptures. "Excess and hubris waste time when there is such better uses for somepony's time." By and large, the sculpture garden hasn't changed so they quickly move on.




The second place to visit ends up being the Cloud Stadium where Shining has a nasty shock when Void suddenly teleports them all directly onto the cloud. "SHINING!" 

Rather than falling to his death though, Shining lands as easily as if it were terra firma. "W-what?" 

Void chuckles at thier shock. "That cloud walking spell non-Pegasi used to use is now obsolete. All I had to do was change the properties of cloud magic so that it's both solid and can still rain. The old way always made the users worry about it wearing off and sending them plunging to thier deaths. Now, nopony ever has to concern themselves with that ever again."

Cadance thinks for a moment. "But why didn't the Princesses do this before?" 

Void scowls for a moment. "Clouds were enchanted so that only Pegasi could stand on them to prevent them from being attacked back when the tribes were at war. Since nopony ever complained, Celestia and Luna never corrected it. Testing my spell's stability was a fun way to punish the foal abusers though." 

Cadance and Shining recoil at the smile on Void's face as she recalls the "happy memory." "Come along, our next visit is to the Canterlot School for Gifted Ponies."




Sure enough, they arrive to find the same school that Twilight once attended which is largely the same as before but with one key difference. Instead of just Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies can also be seen practicing. "To give Celestia some credit, she had a fantastic idea when she opened this school. Teaching those with unique skills and abilities beyond thier peers how to use thier talents to thier fullest potential is genius." Void's smile turns into a frown. "However, her scope was limited to Unicorns only and her main goal in its creation was to find somepony to ultimately save Luna. How selfish."

Cadance can't help but smile as a Unicorn and Pegasus happily practice side by side. "As you can see, I kept her overall idea but given it greater scale and impact. What was once a school for just Unicorns is now a school designed to help foals of any race hone thier abilities and overcome any issues. I will never allow anypony of any race to suffer the same humiliating... deficiency that I once did." 

She ruffles her wings at the memory as Shining decides to speak up. "So you modified Celestia's work to indoctrinate your future subjects then." 

Void's eyes become harsh. "You think we'd take advantage of others' disadvantages for our own gain?!" To thier credit, neither he nor his wife shy back at Nightmare Moon's voice.

Clearing her throat, Void gives them an apologetic look. "Sorry but Nightmare is right. Have you seen anypony throw themselves down at my hooves and proclaim me to be superior to the former Princesses? Do you sense any mind control or fear?" They shake thier heads. "I visit the school quite regularly as Scootaloo so that they can get used to my presence. I have made it very clear to them that I shouldn't be considered superior to them in any way. I refuse to be worshipped as some holier than thou almighty pony just because I am an Alicorn. The only difference between me and any other pony is that I have the power to change everything for the better."

Before either royal can respond, Void sighs. "I don't think I'll be taking a personal student though. It's hard to watch those you care about grow old and die as you never age. There's always Dreadification but I only use that with explicit permission since it's very painful." 

As much as they hate to admit it, Cadance and Shining are gaining a begrudging respect for Queen Void. Her methods and motives may be questionable at best but they can't argue with the results. "And now for something special." Void's horn lights up. 

"Wait, where are we-" Shining is unable to finish as they are instantly teleported away.




They immediately appear inside a dark blue cavern system lit only by dim light reflecting off the surrounding crystals. Shining notices his wife shuddering. "What's wrong, Cady?" 

"This is where Queen Chrysalis held me prisoner." After hugging Cadance, Shining turns his attention back to the monarch of Equestria. 

"Why are we here, Void?" The Queen beckons them forward towards a solid wall of crystal where she presses down on a seemingly random protruding crystal.

Once she does, the entire front sinks back into the wall and reveals a room filled with various artifacts; some of which they quickly recognise as the Alicorn Amulet, Sombra's cape and crown and Star Swirl the Bearded's magic tome. "This is a prison for the most dangerous artifacts in Equestria. Artefacts that, should they fall into the wrong hooves, could devastate the entire world." Void levitates Star Swirl's magic book. "This may be useful in emergencies but also contains many spells that could be ruinous if used by evil."

Cadance steps forward. "But couldn't evil find this place? This would be the first place they'd look and the entrance is easy to unlock." 

Void smiles before beckoning them out the cave which locks behind her. "Now Shining Armour, please try and open the cave." Shining presses down on the crystal from before but it doesn't budge even when he puts his full weight down on it. He then tries to use his magic but only manages to give himself a headache and even his and Cadance's magic combined doesn't even shift it an inch.

When they stop, Void just walks open and casually pushes down on the crystal so the room reopens. "Clever little spell devised by Star Swirl. It ties my magical essence to the lock so only I can open it. Even if I was cloned, it would be useless since its magic would still be different from mine. And if by chance somepony did manage to break in, there is no way to exit the room without my magic and it is enchanted to prevent teleportation in and out. You could put Sombra, Chrysalis, Chrysalis' entire hive and Tirek in there together and they wouldn't be able to escape." As Cadance and Shining Armour process that, Void's horn glows again. "And now for one last stop." They are teleported away again.




The three abruptly find themselves at a fashion shop which they recognise after a moment as the Canterlot Carousel. Rarity fixes the Queen with a glare whilst she measures a tall Earth Pony. "Do you mind, darlings? I'm in the zone right now." Cadance and Shining exchange a surprised look at the Element of Generosity chastising her master. Even so, Void just chuckles and waits patiently for the measurements to be completed and the pony to leave. Rarity sighs as she turns to her friends. "I'm sorry but you should know better than to interrupt me when I'm working. Now, what can I do for you?" 

Void chuckles before turning serious. "I brought them here so you can tell them what's been happening in Equestria since I took over."

Rarity smiles. "Yes your highness." 

Ushering Cadance and Shining over to the fashionista, Queen Void turns to the door. "I have some things to take care of so I'll be back in an hour." 

With that, she leaves and Shining swiftly turns to Rarity. "Rarity, we're here to save you and the others. Together, we can defeat Void and free the Princesses who can hopefully restore you to your-" 

He stops as Rarity chuckles sadly. "Sadly darling, there's nothing that can be done. Even so, it makes certain aspects of my life easier. Please, take take a seat."




As dusk falls, the three royals traipse back into the throne room in silence though they are both brought back to reality by the Queen clearing her throat. "Well?"

After a moment's silence, Cadance and Shining refocus. "So... what now?" 

Queen Void chuckles and gets back down on her throne. "You two will go home and continue ruling as you have but don't hesitate to call for help if you need it. I will come at once." 

Shining Armour looks at her in disbelief. "You're letting us go? After everything we've learnt?" 

Void chuckles. "As I said before, you pose no threat and I have no intentions of ever hurting good ponies. I know that you'll go back and consider all that you have learnt today to decide whether or not you will oppose me."

As the royal couple turn to leave, Void speaks again. "And Shining Armour? Please consider my offer." 

Shining turns in confusion. "What offer?" 

Void chuckles. "I thought it'd be obvious. Princess Cadance is immortal whereas you aren't getting any younger. I'm offering you both the chance to never have to worry about losing each other."

Shining is confused for a moment before freezing in shock. "You don't mean..." 

The monarch shows him a sympathetic smile.  "I will never force you to make a decision either way. The process is painful but I can assure you it is worth it in the end. Just look at your sister. Twilight was going to long outlive her friends but now they'll spend many ages together." 

Void straightens up. "You don't need to rush your decision though. I'm not going away anytime soon and the offer will stand until you die. Now, have a safe journey home."

They turn to leave, Shining unsettled by the offer, but Cadance turns around one last time. "If I may, for a monarch who holds herself with the same grace as Aunt Celestia, you are quite childish." 

Void shoots them a massive Cheshire grin. "I am only a filly after all."