by Knight of Lycaeus
~~~
Flying high above the Crystal Spire was the Crystal Empire’s flag a proud symbol of the Empire; usually it flew at its summit today however it flew at half-mast. Today was a day of mourning for the Empire but none more so than for its Empress. Cadance sat on her balcony, her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying since she received the news yesterday. The past night had been rough, all night long sleep eluded her and she felt the empty presence next to her even more keenly than she had these past few weeks. Exhausted but unable to claim even a bit of sleep, she had walked out onto her balcony and watched in the dim predawn light as flags throughout the Empire were raised to the summit before being lowered to half-mast.
Clutched in her magic was the accursed letter that had set the Empire into mourning. A few weeks ago her wife, Twilight Sparkle the Archmage of Equestria and the Crystal Empire was asked to help an expedition to what was presumed to be the ruins of a long-lost civilization. The Unicorn was asked for her expertise as the archaeologists at the site were encountering some difficult and powerful magical barriers guarding the inner sanctum of some of the abandoned buildings. It was theorized that the buildings there were attempting to make headways into was either an old temple or an old palace which would have warranted such powerful defences.
The area where the ruins were located was remote and near potentially hostile territory but there was also heavy amounts of magical inference in the region which made communication somewhat difficult. Despite her best pleading Twilight insisted on going, Cadance knew that Twilight would not back down from the opportunity but at the same time she feared for her wife’s safety. With the nature of this expedition in mind a contingent of Solar and. Crystal Guards was arranged by Shining Armour and Cadance to accompany her and to provide additional aid to the established camp. As well the circumstances of the expedition meant it was expected that contact with the base camp may be difficult and it was given the "Dangerous, High Possibility of Complications" rating by the Guards.
A week ago she received her first piece of news that something had gone wrong, a flame-letter was presented to her in Court by a Guard. The letter tied by a black ribbon with a broad white stripe down the middle was a Notice. A Notice of Missing in Action, the MIA Report as her Guards called it. This Notice meant two things; one, communication with the expedition had been lost for a week and two, Guards were being sent in to investigate.
Yesterday the news got worse; she had been presented a new letter by the Guards. By now two weeks had gone by without any communication with the expedition and when she saw what the Guards was presenting she knew what had happened. This letter was tied with a black ribbon and upon seeing it she did not even have to open it to know what it said; growing up in Canterlot Castle and being tutored by Princess Celestia meant she was familiar with the concept. The accompanying report was also grim, no evidence could be found of the camp. Seemingly it had disappeared without a trace, at least that's what she understood from the report of the Guards that had been sent to investigate and hence the presence of the black ribbon letter. Two weeks was the maximum length for a "Dangerous" mission to have no established communication, or “Blackout” as her Guards called it, before the group was declared dead and this letter was that physical confirmation. The black ribbon on the letter indicated this was a Notification of Death sent to their next of kin. She knew that the rest of Twilight’s immediate family had also received the news; they had also received the Black Letter.
That was yesterday, today was sent aside as a day of mourning. The entire Crystal Empire was draped in black, the flags flown at half-mast, the citizens crying for their Empress’ loss. Cadance could barely move since hearing the news yesterday but she knew that she had to. Their family and friends had travelled to the Empire early this morning for the memorial service that was to be held later today in the memory of Twilight Sparkle. Cadance took once last look before returning inside, she watched as the sun finished it’s Rising and knew it was the start of a new day yet Twilight would not be there with her.