//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: Fall of the Crystal Empire // by Blaster Master //------------------------------// Chapter 15 Cadance sat in her bed in Canterlot Castle, the weight of the news crushing down on her. “There’s nothing?” Celestia shook her head, “We could sense no magical energies or find any ruins in the wake of the empire’s disappearance. And my sister and I searched long and far, but could not sense the presence of the Empire’s magic anywhere. If the Empire had simply been destroyed, there would have been some trace. I think Sombra may have displaced the empire through time and space. So the empire and the Crystal Ponies are safe wherever, and whenever, Sombra sent them.” Celestia hoped Cadance wouldn’t see the uncertainly in her eyes as she tried to speak reassuringly. She was only a child and she had literally lost everything she had ever known. But the foal’s time with her uncle had made her wise beyond her years and she could read between the lines of what the sun goddess was saying. She cast her eyes out the nearby window, looking out at the sunny skies outside as her thoughts turned over all that she had lost. “We will make accommodations for thee to stay in Canterlot with us, until…” Luna trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence. Until when, exactly? Cadance had no parents, no home, and no inheritance. She was a princess stripped of everything she held dear. Cadance closed her eyes as she thought back to her father’s words: You will grow up into an amazing mare someday, and I’ll be there to help you earn your wings if you think you have what it takes to get them. Cadance opened her eyes and turned to Celestia. The Crystal Princess threw aside her blanket and hopped out of her bed, much to the surprise of sisters. Cadance ached all over from the nearly lethal cold and she barely had the strength to stand up, but she refused to allow herself to fall. Her legs shook for a moment, before she steadied them and looked up at Celestia and Luna. “I want to become an Alicorn. My father said I had the potential in me to be one, and if I’m going to lead the Crystal Empire when it comes back, I’ll need all the training I can get. Please… Will you two take me as your student?” The sisters looked at each other, eyebrows raised. This was a huge responsibility, one not to be taken lightly. “Is thee sure?” Luna asked Cadance, “Tis no small task thee asks for.” “I know.” “It may take years,” Celestia warned. “I know.” “Thou may not survive this path if thee chooses to tread it,” Luna said, seriously. Cadance paused for the briefest of moments, and then nodded resolutely. “I know.” “Then thee shall be our student,” Celestia affirmed, putting a hoof on Cadance’s shoulder, “We shall teach thee of the magic of friendship and love. And, with time and luck, thee shall ascend into an Alicorn. And if the empire should return, we shall do all we can to set thou where thee belongs, Cadance.” “But until then,” Luna also put a hoof on Cadance’s other shoulder, “Thou shall belong here in Canterlot, with us. This will be your home.” Cadance shed tears of relief, hoping her parents could rest at ease knowing that she had survived the ordeal of the Crystal Empire and made her way to safety. “Thank you.” *** That night, after both Cadance and Celestia had gone to bed, Luna flew high through the night skies over Equestria. The Princess of the Night glided silently among the clouds as she was immersed in her thoughts. She turned the battle for the Crystal Empire over and over again in her mind. She thought about Sombra’s words, his promises of power and recognition and of his screams as the Elements of Harmony damned him to his undying torment. She had been nursing a feeling in her stomach ever since the battle and it wasn’t until Luna had time to herself to think that she figured out what it was: Regret. She had done what she thought was the right thing to do: she had stuck by her family and refused the offer of power from a villainous stallion. But now that she had made the choice, she found herself regretting it. If she could do it all over again, would she have sided with Sombra? Would she have struck at her own older sister? Would she have usurped the kingdom of Equestria and made it her own, with her dark king at her side? The more she thought it over, the more the answer became evident. Luna gazed up at her moon as it shined down in its full glory, a pale and mysterious disc in the sky. “Why shouldn’t my night last as long as I want? In fact, why shouldn’t my night last… Forever?”