//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: The Fall 
// by KingSombreDa5h 
//------------------------------//

	The Palace of Crystal, with Prince Crystal Crown standing between it and her, was absolutely incredible! Everything she could have ever wanted shimmering and sparkling like a dewdrop on the grass right in front of her beautiful, shining pink eyes, which were matched by the streaks of pink within her glorious, amethyst-purple mane.

“Amethyst Shards! Get your flank up and working!” Onyx Shroud's voice was screeching.
Having been painfully snatched out of the same dream yet again, Amethyst sighed. It had been 60 moons since her sisters were killed and her mother disappeared. She'd come home and found Pewor Diamond and Rubied Obsidian with shards of Dark Crystal stabbed through them. Her mother, Crystal Heart, was never found. Seeing as no pony was known to use dark magic, no pony was ever proven guilty. After a week without getting anywhere, the case went cold. Amethyst swore she'd find the pony who did it, but, for now, she was stuck with her stepfather.
She was snapped violently back to reality as Onyx suddenly burst into the room.
“What the bucking hay are doing you just standing there? Get to work! Now!” He bucked a broom at her and left.
Casting a simple levitation spell with her horn, the crystal unicorn picked up her broom and went to the kitchen. She threw some oats, barley, and wheat on the stove, as well as a teapot of water, on the stove for Onyx's breakfast. She was always grateful to cook and sweep. It allowed her to clear her mind and think.
Dear Celestia, Somber! Just shut the bucking hell up...
Somber. That's what every pony called Onyx. They say it was because of his name, but Amethyst used it more for his attitude. Of course, the fancier ponies pronounced it "Sombre," but she wasn't one of them.
As she completed her task of sweeping, the food she'd started for Onyx finished. She served it and took it to him.
“Hmm...” said Onyx, taking a bite. “At least you do something right, you worthless little...”
WHAM! WHAM!
His voice trailed at the sound of a hoof hitting the door.
“Well? You going to go bucking answer it, girl?” he demanded, not looking up from the morning's copy of The Daily Shimmer he was reading.
She opened the door to find a member of the Crystal Guard standing right outside.
Great Celestia, she thought. “H-hello. M-m-may I h-h-help y-you?”
“Is the stallion of the house available, miss?”
“N-no, he is eating.” Deep breaths. Come on, calm down. “May I deliver a message?”
“Just give him this please.” Placing a paper on the floor, he turned and left.
Amethyst looked at the paper. It carried the image of a crown, printed in purple, shimmering diamond-ink. The official royal seal of the Crystal Kingdom!
This could be it! This could be my deliverance!
She picked it up and took it to Onyx, whom opened it, and read it aloud.
“All are hereby invited to the eighteenth birthday of Prince Crystal Crown, heir of the Crystal Empire, on the twenty-second day of the eighth moon of this year.”
The note from my dream! I'm finally getting out!
“Find something nice, Amethyst. You're going.”
“But, Onyx, it's tomorrow! How can I find something so quickly?”
Onyx turned to look at her. There was a fire she had never seen before. Looked almost as though he were a Dark magician. It seemed to say, "I have a plan, and this will set it all in motion."
“I don't know, and I don’t care. Just bucking do it!”
“Fine...”
After four hours, Amethyst had finally found a dress and hairstyle that Onyx approved of.
The next day, they left early.
“I want to be as early as possible,” Onyx had told her. “It will give us time to greet every pony as they arrive.”
The doors weren't even open when they arrived. They had been there for over an hour, just waiting.
Why is Onyx so bent on me being here? He hates the idea of me having fun...
Hoof steps behind her pulled her out of her mind. Startled, she spun around, realizing Onyx was gone. Then she realized she had missed every pony from the Empire, and some from elsewhere in Equestria, arriving. And then she gasped as she instantly recognized the pony in front of her.
“Mind if I escort you in?”
The Palace of Crystal, with Prince Crystal Crown standing between it and her, was absolutely incredible! Everything she could have ever wanted shimmering and sparkling like a dewdrop on the grass right in front of her beautiful, shining pink eyes, which were matched by the streaks of pink within her glorious, amethyst-purple mane.
But, this time, she did not have to wake up. This time, her dreams were her reality.
Don't get excited. It will probably end very soon...
As they entered the palace, she was amazed at how many ponies there were. She walked through the crowd, the prince next to her the entire way. Every pony very quickly began to go from a roaring conversation to absolute silence as the turned from their friends and dates in order to look at her and Crystal Crown.
“What are they all looking at?” she whispered in Prince Crystal Crown's ear.
“Us. They are looking at us.”
“What? But... Why?”
“Well, I needed my princess. You see,” explained the prince, “there is much more to this party than most ponies knew. See, it is not just to celebrate my birthday. It is to find my princess. I was told to stand at the entrance and wait until I found the one mare I wished to escort in. She would then be the princess.”
Amethyst could not believe her ears! She was going to be the princess of the Crystal Empire! It would never have to end! It would forever be her life!
They had a magnificent wedding that very day, and peace would continue to reign throughout all of Equestria.
Little did any pony know, the Empire would soon fall. And only one pony would have the power to save it.